A navigation system known from practice is provided with a display that is used not only to display route information, but also to support the hierarchical inputting of the destination. Thus, when the navigation system is called up the user is first offered a first list from which the type of destination input can be selected. At this point, the user can for example indicate whether the desired destination is a destination that is already known to the navigation system and is stored in a memory. In this case, a second list is then displayed that contains the stored destinations, from which the user can simply select the desired destination. If the user wishes to travel to a destination that is not known to the navigation system, he can for example select the destination type “CITY” from the first list. He will then be prompted to textually enter the desired city name. Subsequently, from a third list he can select how the destination is to be further specified. At this point, the user can for example choose between the inputting of an address or a type of destination such as restaurant, hospital, or sightseeing location. If address input is selected, the user is first prompted to textually enter the desired street name, and depending on the circumstances he may then be further prompted to enter a house number. If one of the categories RESTAURANT, HOSPITAL, or SIGHTSEEING is selected, a corresponding list is displayed, from which the user can then select the desired destination.
If the user has selected a list entry that is not unambiguous, for example because in the city in question there are several restaurants having the same name, this ambiguity must be resolved in a further input step before the navigation module can carry out a route planning. For this purpose, the user is offered a list of the destination alternatives, with additional specifying information if such information is available. In the case of the restaurants having the same name, as a rule the part of the city in which the restaurant in question is located, or its address, is displayed. However, in practice it has turned out that these textual indications of location often do not provide any real help in making a decision in inputting the destination, especially for users who are not familiar with the area.